1. Start Windows Live Mail. A wizard may run the first time it's opened. If the wizard doesn't run when you first open the program, do the following:
   
   1. On the Tools menu, click Accounts.
      
   2. In the Accounts page, click Add.
      
   3. On the Add an account page, click E-mail Account, and then click Next.
      
2. On the Add an E-mail Account page, do the following:
   
   1. In the E-mail address box, enter your e-mail address.
      
   2. In the Password box, enter your password. If you want Windows Mail to remember your password, select the check box next to Remember password.
      
   3. In the Display Name box, enter your full name.
      
   4. Select Manually configure server settings for e-mail account, and then click Next.
      
3. On the next page of the wizard, under Incoming Server Information, do the following:
   
   1. In the drop-down menu under Incoming mail server is a <type> server, select IMAP or POP3. IMAP supports more features.
      
   2. Under Incoming server, enter the POP3 or IMAP4 server name. For information about how to find your incoming (POP3 or IMAP4) server name, see the "What else do I need to know?" section below.
      
   3. Select This server requires a secure connection (SSL).
      
   4. Under Log on using, make sure that Clear text authentication is selected.
      
   5. Under Login ID (if different from e-mail address), type your full e-mail address.
      
4. Under Outgoing Server Information, do the following:
   
   1. Under Outgoing server, enter the SMTP server name. For information about how to find your outgoing (SMTP) server name, see "What else do I need to know?" below.
      
   2. Select the check box next to This server requires a secure connection (SSL).
      
   3. Select the check box next to My Outgoing server requires authentication, and then click Next.
      
5. On the Your new account settings are complete page, click Finish.
   
6. On the Accounts page, click Close.
   
7. If you're using IMAP4 and the Show/Hide IMAP Folders dialog box appears, use the Windows Live Mail user interface to select which folders you want to synchronize between the server and your local computer, and then click OK.
   

What else do I need to know?

• Before you set up a POP3 or IMAP4 e-mail program, you need to look up your own POP3, IMAP4, and SMTP server settings.
  
  Watch this video to learn how to find your server settings for your POP or IMAP e-mail program.
  
  To find your server settings, sign in to your e-mail account using Outlook Web App. After you sign in, click the drop-down arrow next to the Help question mark, and then click About. The POP3 or IMAP4 server name and other settings you may need to enter are listed on the About page under External POP setting or External IMAP setting. The SMTP server name and other settings are listed under External SMTP setting.
  

  Important:
  The following settings are just examples. You must look up your own server settings.

  • If you're using POP and the About page shows the following:
    External POP setting:
       Server name: pod51000.outlook.com
       Port: 995
       Encryption method: SSL
    your POP3 server name should be set to pod51000.outlook.com.
    
  • If you're using IMAP and the About page shows the following:
    External IMAP setting:
       Server name: pod51000.outlook.com
       Port: 993
       Encryption method: SSL
    your server name should be set to pod51000.outlook.com.
    
  • To find your SMTP server setting, if the About page shows the following:
    External SMTP setting:
       Server name: pod51000.outlook.com
       Port: 587
       Encryption method: TLS
    your SMTP server name should be set to pod51000.outlook.com.
    

    Note:
    Write down the server settings in case you need them for future reference.

• If you don't know whether to use POP3 or IMAP4, consider using IMAP4 because it supports more features.
  
• If you access your e-mail account online using the outlook.com Web site, to access your e-mail account, you'll need the Windows Live ID that your administrator gave you and your password. The Windows Live ID is also your primary e-mail address and includes the name of the domain, for example, tony@contoso.com.
  
• If Windows Live Mail doesn't connect after you follow this procedure, you might need to verify that you're using the correct authentication setting. You can check this by doing the following:
  
  1. On the Tools menu, click Accounts.
     
  2. On the Accounts page, select your account, and then click Properties.
     
  3. On the Properties page for your account, on the Servers tab, make sure Log on using clear text authentication is selected.
     
• If you're using IMAP, Windows Mail will always keep a copy of a message on the server after you retrieve a copy to your local computer. If you're using POP3, Windows Mail will keep a copy of messages on the server by default. If you're using POP3, you can set up Windows Live Mail to remove the copy of a message from the server when you download it to your local computer. It's a good idea to keep a copy of your messages on the server because it lets you access your messages from a different mail program. You can set up Windows Live Mail to remove a copy from the server as follows:
  
  1. On the Tools menu, click Accounts.
     
  2. On the Accounts page, select your account, and then click Properties.
     
  3. On the Properties page for your account, on the Advanced tab, under Delivery, make sure Leave a copy of messages on server isn't selected.
     

What if I want to know more?

• Access Your Account Using IMAP or POP E-Mail Programs
  
• Using POP3 and IMAP4 E-Mail Programs